Espinoza, Fredrik

Abstract [en]

Testing and demonstrating context aware services can be extremely difficult Context-aware services inherently need information such as the position oftheir users, but it is complicated to gather and supply services with information of that kind. Obviously, one needs to do this when the services are up and running, but it may help to simulate the context information while the services are under development or for demonstration purposes. Even though the simulated context information is not real, the services and the routines that gather and receive the context information can be. This enables systems to be developed with less regard for constraints that stem from using actual sensor technology while also keeping the core functionality of services separate and ready for real-world deployment. One can image two types of simulation tools: those that simulate a set of values as a part of a test suite, and those that allow interactive testing of services in semirealistic circumstances. We have chosen the latter approach because it has the added advantage of allowing us to demonstrate services. QuakeSim is a tool that interactively simulates context information in real time. It simulates the real 3D world and different kinds of context information. With QuakeSim, it is possible to test and demonstrate context-aware services without requiring users or objects to actually be located in and move around in the real world.